ABSTRACT
The handbook has dealt with the young climate movement that has not yet been researched systematically. The chapters came to several conclusions which fit together regarding many aspects and create the following picture of the climate movement:
1 Characterization of the c1imatemovement The climate movement is a vivid and plural collective whose members are active in several countries. There are strong and established national climate movements in Australia, the US, and Brazil. In Germany, China, and India, climate movements are currently emerging and growing. In contrast, the climate movement in Great Britain is in a deep crisis although climate activism has its origin in this country. A certain decline of the activities of climate groups can also be observed in the US, but this decline is less intensive than in Great Britain. Apart from these national submovements, the international climate movement consists of different organizations and activists particularly focusing on international climate politics. The members of the movement are very heterogeneous. Indigenous people, migrant workers, young people, and scientists participate in the movement as weil as environmental organizations, church groups, and citizens' initiatives. The international visibility of the climate movement is dominated by huge networks such as CJN! and CAN. In addition, there are global campaigns and days of action organized by 350.org or La Via Campesina. Each year, many members ofthe movement travel to the United Nations Climate Change Conferences. They organize protests and critical side events and in part also participate in the official negotiations. The presence of the climate groups during these conferences has declined during the last few years.! In addition, some big players ofthe movement such as ClimateJustice Action (CJA) and 1 Sky have become inactive. Nevertheless, the climate movement is still very active. There are climate protests a11 around the world and intensive processes of communication among the members of the movement (see for example the chapters by Tokar and Dietz in this book). In order to communicate the climate groups particularly use websites, blogs, mailing lists, and newsletters. Besides, reports on and discussions of the climate movement are published in magazines and newspapers such as the Shift magazine, Turbulence, the Guardian, and the Rolling Stone magazine. Furthermore, apart from the UN Climate Change Conferences, the members ofthe climate movement meet at events such as the Powershift conferences in the US or in Australia. The climate groups
exchange information on protests and strategies across borders, mobilize for their campaigns (see for example the 'International Campaign ofStruggles' by La Via Campesina in the context of the Rio+20 summit), and discuss the state and future of the climate movement (see for example McKibben 2012 and Petermann 2012). They show intensive processes ofreflection and a strong self-consciousness as social movement. Due to these characteristics and a certain skepticism about technology and capitalism, the climate movement creates the impression of being a critical and intellectual actor.
